10 Horror Movies About To Become TV Shows
3. Crystal Lake
After going almost 15 years without any Jason Voorhees machete swinging, Friday the 13th fans were delivered some particularly exciting news in 2022 when it was announced that a prequel TV series was in the works.
The A24 studio - known for such horror modern classics as Hereditary and Midsommar - would be bringing the Crystal Lake project to life, with Hannibal's Bryan Fuller serving as showrunner.
In other words, it all sounded somewhat promising... until it didn't.
May 2024 brought with it news of Fuller being sacked a couple of months before Crystal Lake was set to go into production, with it being noted by the former showrunner that A24 wanted to go a "different way with the material,” (via Variety). It was then reported that Fuller's plan for the series would've potentially seen none other than Charlize Theron(!) stepping into the role of Pamela Voorhees - though no deal had been made yet - as the story would have picked up not long after her son Jason drowned.
In the movies, Pamela famously goes on a revenge rampage following her baby boy's death, and the plan for the show was to remake each one of the first four features. Its seasons would act as a "deconstruction" of each of said pictures (via The Wrap/Slash Film).
Financial concerns - with it being reported that the $85 million-budgeted first season was already $4-6 million over budget - issues with paying writers, and Fuller reportedly having one eye on his upcoming "Dusty Bunny" film pulling his attention away from the project all tells the story of a series which seemed a bit all over the place.
And while the show hasn't currently got a showrunner attached, it still looks as though A24 are planning to move ahead with the project. Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca is reportedly being eyed to take over from Fuller, but that move would probably see the "restart" button being hit on the show - which likely wouldn't be cheap for A24.
Crystal Lake could still survive development hell, of course, but it is starting to feel like this one is just destined to sink.